Iran, Croatia vow to bolster ties

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, in a meeting in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, discussed various issues of mutual interests, particularly expansion of all-out ties between Tehran and Zagreb. At the meeting on Friday, Josipovic expressed his country’s readiness to enhance its economic and cultural ties with Iran. Larijani, for his part, praised Iran and Croatia’s longstanding friendly relations and called for the expansion of parliamentary ties between the two countries. Early in March, in a meeting between Larijani and head of the Croatia-Iran Parliamentary friendship Group Mladen Novak in Tehran, the two officials stressed the necessity of further developing ties in all arenas. "Iran and Croatia economic and trade relations are historical," Larijani said, adding, "The two friendly countries should use all the capacities and opportunities to develop their relation." Larijani voiced hope for bolstering and reinvigorating bilateral parliamentary relations between Iran and Croatia. Novak, for his part, noted that Croatia welcomes development of ties between the two countries in all fields, in particular in the field of economy and industry. He submitted Croatia's invitation message to Larijani which calls for development of ties between the two countries' parliaments and invites Iranian parliament speaker to pay a visit to Croatia. Iran and Croatia established diplomatic relations on April 18, 1992 when Iran became the 7th country to recognize the newly-independent Croatia. Croatia has an embassy in Tehran and Iran maintains an embassy and a cultural centre in Zagreb. President Josipovic had earlier stressed his country's will for expanding ties with Iran in all the political, economic and cultural fields. Josipovic, a Social Democrat law professor and classical music composer, made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Zagreb Ali Ahani following inauguration ceremony in 2010. "Considering Iran's vast facilities and potentials and also Croatia's technical capabilities, I hope that the two countries' cooperation would further expand in economic fields," he added. Josipovic also described a recently endorsed cooperation deal between a Croatian company and Iran as a good model for strengthening mutual economic cooperation.